Knights control their destiny

Published: Tuesday, October 15, 2013 at 11:58 p.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, October 15, 2013 at 11:58 p.m.

Back on Sept. 27 when North Davidson lost a much-anticipated Central Piedmont Conference showdown with Mount Tabor, Black Knights coach Mark Holcomb felt the conference championship was still in reach.

It looked like the odds were against the Knights at that point. But Holcomb sure was right.

Mount Tabor, with a high-profile win over Butler as well, seemed to have the inside track on winning the CPC championship. After all, the Spartans had defeated the Knights, something no one else did in the 2012 regular season.

Two conference games later, the Spartans are practically out of the race. Wow, talk about a drastic swing of events.

North has gone on to win two conference games during that span and the Knights have passed Mount Tabor in the standings. Yet the Knights are still looking up at West Forsyth and Reagan in the standings. Those two teams are the ones remaining on the schedule after the Knights play 1-6 R.J. Reynolds on Friday for homecoming.

The main thing is that North now controls its own destiny. Win out and the Knights are CPC champions again. That's their first goal and it would put them in position to achieve more goals.

Over in the Central Carolina Conference, Thomasville's 33-6 win over West Davidson last week had a deja vu sort of feel to it. The Bulldogs suffered through a brutal 0-6 nonconference slate last year and then beat West 35-5. That was the first step toward a run that carried Thomasville to the third round of the 2-A state playoffs.

West was 4-2 going into the Thomasville game. The Dragons won their first three games last season and then failed to win a CCC game. On Friday, they host undefeated North Rowan, No. 1-ranked 2-A team in the state. Uh oh. An 0-2 start in the CCC is likely. But with a prolific passing attack behind quarterback Graham Shoaf, West should be able to win some more games.

The biggest surprise is East Davidson, which is 6-1 and having a marvelous season. Quarterback Austin Wallace threw for 310 yards and four touchdowns in a 33-32 thriller at Salisbury. It should get a whole lot tougher on Friday when the Eagles host Thomasville. One of these teams will emerge 2-0 in the conference and be in good position heading down the stretch. The Bulldogs seemed to have found their running game last Friday when D.J. Spann rushed for 162 yards and Demoris Payne ran for 112. East will find it challenging to stop Thomasville's power running game.

Lexington is limping at 0-7 but the Yellow Jackets may have found a spark last week against North Rowan. The Jackets trailed 26-0 at halftime and could have been on their way to a 50-0 or so blowout. But the Jackets recovered in the second half and the margin ended up being 33-13. Raekwon Byrd put up some nice numbers and what he does is critical to Lexington's chances of success.

When the Jackets host Salisbury on Friday it will be a matchup of 0-7 teams. That seems almost surreal. But as Lexington coach Chuck Henderson would be quick to point out, the Jackets are 0-1 where it counts — in the conference. A win on Friday would be huge.

Central Davidson stumbled a bit by losing 28-21 to Southern Guilford last Friday but the Mid-Piedmont Conference race is still wide open with four teams, including the Spartans, within a game of each other. This one has a long way to go.

Mike Duprez can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 218 or mike.duprez@the-dispatch.com.

<p>Back on Sept. 27 when North Davidson lost a much-anticipated Central Piedmont Conference showdown with Mount Tabor, Black Knights coach Mark Holcomb felt the conference championship was still in reach.</p><p>It looked like the odds were against the Knights at that point. But Holcomb sure was right.</p><p>Mount Tabor, with a high-profile win over Butler as well, seemed to have the inside track on winning the CPC championship. After all, the Spartans had defeated the Knights, something no one else did in the 2012 regular season.</p><p>Two conference games later, the Spartans are practically out of the race. Wow, talk about a drastic swing of events.</p><p>North has gone on to win two conference games during that span and the Knights have passed Mount Tabor in the standings. Yet the Knights are still looking up at West Forsyth and Reagan in the standings. Those two teams are the ones remaining on the schedule after the Knights play 1-6 R.J. Reynolds on Friday for homecoming.</p><p>The main thing is that North now controls its own destiny. Win out and the Knights are CPC champions again. That's their first goal and it would put them in position to achieve more goals.</p><p>Over in the Central Carolina Conference, Thomasville's 33-6 win over West Davidson last week had a deja vu sort of feel to it. The Bulldogs suffered through a brutal 0-6 nonconference slate last year and then beat West 35-5. That was the first step toward a run that carried Thomasville to the third round of the 2-A state playoffs. </p><p>West was 4-2 going into the Thomasville game. The Dragons won their first three games last season and then failed to win a CCC game. On Friday, they host undefeated North Rowan, No. 1-ranked 2-A team in the state. Uh oh. An 0-2 start in the CCC is likely. But with a prolific passing attack behind quarterback Graham Shoaf, West should be able to win some more games.</p><p>The biggest surprise is East Davidson, which is 6-1 and having a marvelous season. Quarterback Austin Wallace threw for 310 yards and four touchdowns in a 33-32 thriller at Salisbury. It should get a whole lot tougher on Friday when the Eagles host Thomasville. One of these teams will emerge 2-0 in the conference and be in good position heading down the stretch. The Bulldogs seemed to have found their running game last Friday when D.J. Spann rushed for 162 yards and Demoris Payne ran for 112. East will find it challenging to stop Thomasville's power running game.</p><p>Lexington is limping at 0-7 but the Yellow Jackets may have found a spark last week against North Rowan. The Jackets trailed 26-0 at halftime and could have been on their way to a 50-0 or so blowout. But the Jackets recovered in the second half and the margin ended up being 33-13. Raekwon Byrd put up some nice numbers and what he does is critical to Lexington's chances of success. </p><p>When the Jackets host Salisbury on Friday it will be a matchup of 0-7 teams. That seems almost surreal. But as Lexington coach Chuck Henderson would be quick to point out, the Jackets are 0-1 where it counts — in the conference. A win on Friday would be huge.</p><p>Central Davidson stumbled a bit by losing 28-21 to Southern Guilford last Friday but the Mid-Piedmont Conference race is still wide open with four teams, including the Spartans, within a game of each other. This one has a long way to go.</p><p>Mike Duprez can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 218 or mike.duprez@the-dispatch.com.</p>